Are You Worried About Chase?

Chase Utley has been sidelined to begin Spring Training games with patellar tendinitis. That’s not a good sign as Utley is now 32 years old and has gotten nipped by the injury bug lately.

Utley says, with rest, the knee should be fine, it’s just not going away as fast as he or the team would like. Some are worried about this setback, some are not. Which category do you fall under? Let us know on the poll below how worried you are about Chase Utley’s knee. (Photo: Mcall.com)

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I’m not a Dr, but have had my share of leg joint issues. If you are going to have a knee issue, patellar tendinitis is the one to get. It subsides with ice and rest, will only be a bit tender when jumping (not even much of a problem with running), doesn’t throw off the stability of the knee. To repeat an earlier post, I’m happy he recognized it and is dealing with it, and don’t expect it to play into the season at all.

Before I ever had it myself… I thought athletes suffering from tendonitis were just being little biatches about it . . . but my SR. year baseball season, I got it in my throwing arm and it HURT LIKE HELL . . . a burning, sharp, kind what I imagine it would feel like if you got shot or stabbed … so my best wishes to Chase for a speedy recovery..

I put myself into Slightly Worried camp … as long as they aren’t telling us this as some BS reason – the same way they just told us he had general soreness…but really it was THIS

A few weeks of rest.. and hopefully he’s fine …

Another great job by the Front Office, in their scouting and aquisition of Wilson Valdez last year, because he’s a hell of an insurance policy to have!

I am also slightly worried…and I will emphasize SLIGHTLY….and feel that REGULAR DAYS OFF during the season are an absolute must in order to keep him healthy for the whole year. Having a guy like Valdez makes that decision a whole lot easier.

I don’t like this at all… he works too hard. Rest is one word that isn’t in Utley’s vocabulary. A lot of our guys aren’t capable of sitting on the shelf and these kinds of injuries tend to linger. We are going to make the playoffs… that much is clear… I don’t care about the win total. I want to be healthy in September. Utley, Polanco and Ibanez should get regular days off. We have some depth and I think that once this machine gets rolling, it has to remain well oiled – none of our starters except maybe Victorino and Howard should play more than 150 games.

I’d go as far as to say that Utley, Rollins, Polanco, and Ibanez should not play more than 140 games. Believe it or not (and many don’t) players are in their decline stage at age 32. This is the oldest team in baseball, and the oldest Phillies lineup since 1983. For those who may not remember, that team was nicknamed the “Wheeze Kids”. The main goal during the season should be to keep the lineup healthy and well rested heading into the postseason.

Utley can officially be called “injury prone”. I would be willing to bet that he NEVER again plays more than 150 games in a season. And for you that insist that he’s a LOCK for the Hall of Fame….think about what he has to do statistically over the next 6-8 years in order for that to even be considered. It’s gonna be harder and harder for him as time goes on for him to amass those stats.

I disagree. The tendonitis and the labrum problems he had earlier were “natural” injuries, but the former could well be gone in a week or two, and the regular season hasn’t even started yet. Besides that, he had a thumb injury sustained during a head first slide, and a broken hand from getting hit by a pitch. Those are freak incidents. “Injury prone” is going a bit far, especially since we don’t know whether the PT will even matter yet. Like any early 30s infielder, he just needs some days off.

Injuries from HEAD FIRST slides and from getting hit by a pitch aren’t that uncommon and are not “freak incidents”. Chase Utley is injury prone. Plain and simple. I’m not taking anything away from “The Man” ….but it’s time people get their heads out of the sand and realize what the truth is.

In 6 full-time seasons Chase has played more than 150 games only 3 times and played 160+ games only once.

I agree with you Ryan. “Injury prone” is usually defined as excessive and self inflicted. Just because a pitcher’s wildness with a pitch put Utley on the DL does not mean he is injury prone. Granted a head first slide goes against a baseball fundamental for sliding but many players who are aggressive will disregard that and Utley is no exception.

Well my my, aren’t you just a clever dim-wit. I love all the enlightening posters like you that bring so much to this board with your moronic handles and mentally deficient ideas of what’s funny. Ha Ha Ha calling yourself Chase_Utley’s_Knee- How incredibly amusing! I may be laughing the rest of the day-NOT.

Next time why not post as Ryan_Howards_Junk you numb-nut, you’re clearly closer to that area of human anatomy.

I read in article in Sports Illustrated (I think)… last year (I think) … and it said something like Chase Utley, Carl Crawford, and Scott Rolen are the best baserunners . . . aggessive at the right times, go 1st-to-3rd better than everyone else, etc . .

That Head First Slide, etc.. is what makes Utley a great player … and he got hurt last year doing it .. I wouldn’t say its common.

Players getting injured from Hit By Pitch isn’t common either . . . so to cite those scenarios and call Utley “injury prone” is just as bad as when people called Jayson Werth “injury prone” when his wrist was shattered with a fastball and misdiagnosed, etc..

Utley isn’t “injury prone” … but he does play hard and aggressive and you have to wonder if that is taking its toll. He’s not a huge Professional Athlete body … and he’s not the nimble JRoll, Victorino, Juan Pierre, etc . . . He’s in between and a guy that maximizes his talent … Someone pointed out that around age 32 is when players start to decline … I hope that Chase is still a few years away from a rapid decline, but the numbers don’t lie …he’s been both Injured and Declining (stat wise) over the past 2-3 seasons

A naggint injury is the last thing he needs, and the fact that he got sent for an MRI tells me he’s in more pain than we’re being led to believe.. I think its going to take more than a week to fully heal … and that they would be foolish to try to rush him .. He’ll be ready when he’s ready, and hopefully he gets 10+games of Spring Training in before the season starts

Injuries from head-first slides and getting hit by the pitch maybe aren’t extremely commonplace….but they aren’t “freak” either. Anytime a player slides head first he increases his chances of getting injured…and players that get hit by the pitch as much as Utley does also increase their chances of getting hurt.

Point well made about the INTENSITY of Chase’s style of play. I think that could definitely be contributing factor. And what are the options?? Ask him to NOT play with such intensity?? I don’t think so. Regular days off is absolutely necessary from now on.

Injury prone?? Maybe not exactly….but this isn’t the first injury in his career….and I would imagine it won’t be his last.

I voted “pretty worried” for one reason only, the cover up. Charlie says he’s been working out all winter and is in great shape, just a little sore. Now I can’t speak for anyone else, but that doesn’t sound like a guy I would send to get an MRI.

We can speculate it as a “cover up” but I suspect that management underestimated the nature of his “soreness” due to Utley’s reputation as working hard to the extreme in preparation for the season. When it became evident that Utley’s problem was not going away, the decision for an MRI as a precaution was obviously the right choice.

That’s possible. But Chase has never been forthcoming about injuries, he didn’t need Charlie to cover it up for him. He could have stonewalled everyone like he always has in the past when it flared up. I’m thinking he must have really showed the pain was intolerable this time. And since he’s normally so tough about these things, Charlie and Ruben must have thought that this time it really was something to worry about. therefore I stand in the “pretty worried” category and don’t feel like they’re necessarily telling the truth about this.

Plus- “pretty worried” is sort of a natural state of mind for me anyway.

I’m pretty worried too because this is the kinda thing that should have been ameliorated over the winter with rest and/or proper conditioning. If this is causing concern at the outset of ST, I can’t see how it won’t be all season long. Chase has said himself this is more a “condition” than an “injury”. Putting it all together, I feel safe assuming this has been an issue for at least 18 months now (recall the weird 09 post season mis-throws; review again for pivoting issue).

Good points Schultze. I don’t think this is new, I just think it’s getting worse either from age or just how hard he pushes himself. He never admitted to injury last year prior to the hand thing, but many people suspected there was something the gamer was concealing.

Even after extensive Web MD and wikipedia searches, I’m still not exactly sure what “patellar tendinitis” consists of… I’m concerned, but still leaning towards the old NFL approach where injuries like this are exaggerated to lull your opponent into a false sense of security. Just when you think Chase can’t walk, he strikes!